Tenkei Coppens

Anton Tenkei Coppens was born in the Netherlands, studied art and art history, and worked for almost fifteen years as a painter and a teacher. He started Zen practice in 1976 in the UK and went to the Zen Center of Los Angeles in 1980 where he met Maezumi Roshi and Genpo Roshi. He became a close student of Genpo Roshi and followed him touring throughout Europe and the USA. In 1988 he received Tokudo, left the Netherlands and went to Maine, where Genpo Roshi had established his first residential training center. This center was relocated to Salt Lake City in 1993. In 1996 Tenkei received Shiho and for the following four years assisted Genpo Roshi full-time in teaching in Salt Lake City. In the footsteps of Roshi he also went to Europe regularly to conduct retreats and workshops. Inspired by the vast expanse of the USA he led many outdoor retreats in the desert of southern Utah, together with his wife Tamara (Tammy) Myoho Gabrysch. They both lived as resident students with Genpo Roshi for twelve years.

Tenkei Roshi and Tammy Sensei left the USA at the turn of the century and went to Japan to live and practice for six months in the temple of Maezumi Roshi’s brother, Junyu Kuroda Roshi (Hojo-san). In Japan Tenkei had the opportunity to officiate ceremonies in the two main temples of the Soto School, that qualify for becoming an abbot of a Zen temple. He and Tammy finally settled in the Netherlands in the fall of 2000 and, together with a fast growing sangha, established Zen River in Uithuizen. In September 2003 Tenkei was installed as abbot during a traditional Shinsan-shiki ceremony, officiated by Hojo-san. In November 2003 he completed a one month Tokubetsu sesshin at Zuioji temple, Niihama, Japan, which gave him further certification within the Soto School. Later he was granted the official status of Kokusai Fukyoshi (certified teacher who spreads the dharma internationally). On January 23, 2006, Tenkei received Inka, the final seal of approval as a Zen master (and the title of Roshi) from Genpo Roshi.

Although mostly at their home base Zen River after years of travelling and living abroad, Tenkei Roshi regularly visits other locations to conduct workshops, including The Hague, Düsseldorf and Madrid. He is the father of one adult daughter, Maartje, who lives in Amsterdam. Tenkei Roshi is co-editor of Beyond Sanity and Madness by Genpo Roshi. He has also edited a series of dharma talks that Maezumi Roshi gave in Europe, published under the title The Echoless Valley and Teaching of the Great Mountain.

Myoho Gabrysch

Tamara (Tammy) Myoho Gabrysch was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the eldest of five siblings. She grew up in Lancashire and went on to study Fine Art in Manchester where she received a BA Hons. Degree in 1986. She worked as a freelance artist until she met Genpo Roshi in August 1988 when he came to the Gabrysch’s family home in Northern England to lead a retreat for which her mother Genshin (who would later become Genshin Roshi) had invited him. This sesshin was a turning point for her, and from then on she completely committed herself to studying with Genpo Roshi. She joined him along with other students to attend sesshins in Europe and then on to Bar Harbor, Maine, where Roshi was setting up Kanzeon Zen Center. In November 1988 Myoho received Jukai and in March 1991 she received Shukke Tokudo (ordination).

After Genpo Roshi relocated Kanzeon Zen Center to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1993, she began to cook for the residential programme and was the Tenzo (head cook) for many years. Myoho and Tenkei worked together full-time at the Center, and — among other projects — organized outdoor retreats in the mountains around Salt Lake City and the desert of Southern Utah. In 1998 they were married by Genpo Roshi during a mountain retreat, a ceremony that was repeated a half year later on Ameland in the Netherlands to accommodate family members. Earlier that year Myoho had received Hoshi (dharma holder) and Denkai (precept holder for priestly activities) from Genpo Roshi. They left Salt Lake City in 2000 after 12 years of residential training, and went on to live and practice for six month in Japan with Junyu Kuroda Roshi (Hojo-san), the younger brother of Maezumi Roshi.

Finally, in 2002, Myoho and Tenkei settled in the Netherlands and — with a dedicated goup of students — established Zen River Temple, a community of residents and members with an ongoing daily programme and monthly sesshins. Tammy serves as Tenzo, webmaster and as PR administrator. After receiving Shiho from Genpo Roshi in Salt Lake City on May 10, 2008, she made a start with formal teaching and in 2013 completed formal training in Japan at Toshoji monastery in Okayama, which gave her further certification within the Soto School as Kyoshi (priest). Myoho is currently working on compiling a book of recipes from the Zen River kitchen and is also a contributing author to The Hidden Lamp, a collection of one hundred koans and stories of Buddhist women from the time of the Buddha to the present day (Compiled and edited by Florence Caplow and Sue Moon; published by Wisdom publications).

New Teachers

Peter Gakudo den Hollander

Peter Gakudo den Hollander has a bachelor’s degree in social studies and worked with young adults from ethnic minorities in The Hague. He started Zen practice with Genpo Roshi in 1997 and did his first sesshin with Tenkei Roshi in 1998. When Tenkei and Myoho Sensei returned to The Netherlands from Japan in the fall of 2000, Gakudo and his wife, Anjo Koren Kasman, became Tenkei's first Shoken students. In fact, with Roy, a grand, white Pyrenees dog, they all lived together for nine months in Gakudo and Koren’s little house in Zoetermeer and set up a zendo in an old school around the corner. They immediately began searching all over the country for a place to establish Zen River and finally ended up in a beautiful property in Uithuizen. There was much building and maintenance work to do, and Gakudo was the handy-man par excellence right from the start. He received Tokudo in 2002 and was Shuso in 2005. In order to meet Soto requirements, he was Shuso again in 2010. Rev. Junyu Kuroda (Hojo-san) was Jokeshi for this Hossenshiki. In 2012 he attended an international Soto Ango in Shogoji, Japan. Since receiving Shiho in December 2013 with Myoho as Kyojushi, he has been leading workshops and classes at various locations

Anjo Koren Kasman

Anjo Koren Kasman studied business economics and worked as an administrative manager in the Leiden Academic Hospital. She started Zen practice with Tenkei in 1999 and became his Shoken student in 2000. Koren and her husband, Peter Gakudo den Hollander, were the first ones to help Tenkei and Myoho establish Zen River – first in Zoetermeer and Holwierde, and from 2002 until now in its present location in Uithuizen. As a full-time resident, she not only became Zen River's financial manager but also for many years was the head of the sewing room, one of the nerve centers of the temple. Koren loves animals. She feeds the chickens every day and spends lots of quality time with Jimmy the dog – a small, black successor of Roy, who passed away in 2005. Koren received Tokudo in 2002 and was Shuso during Ango in 2006. She was Shuso again in 2011 with Hojo-san as Jokeshi for her Hossenshiki. She received Shiho from Tenkei in December 2013 with Genno Roshi from Paris as Kyojushi. Immediately after this ceremony, Koren went to Japan to attend an international 3-month Soto Ango in Yokoji, the first temple of Keizan Zenji. Like the other Shiho recipients she gives introductory classes on a houseboat zendo in the nearby university town of Groningen.

Simon Senko de Boer

Simon Senko de Boer studied political science at the University of Amsterdam and for some fifteen years was employed by a non-profit organization in The Hague as a manager for community building and environmental awareness. He started Zen practice when he met Tenkei during a workshop in 2000 and, inspired to help build up Zen River, became a resident in 2003. He pretty much immediately found his niche as an enthusiastic gardener and took on the temple grounds as his main field of work-practice. One of his creations is a well-tended garden that provides fresh vegetables for the sangha. Senko received Shukke Tokudo in 2005 and was Shuso in 2008. He was Shuso again in 2012 with Rev. Yasunori Hosokawa as Jokeshi for his Hossenshiki. In 2013 he went to Japan to attend the Toshoji Winter Ango led by Abbot Seido Suzuki Roshi. (Tenkei and Myoho had made a connection with Seido Roshi in Japan and were surprised to find out that he was good friends with Hojo-san and had also known Maezumi Roshi well.) After receiving Shiho in January 2014 with Nico Tydeman as Kyojushi, Senko has lectured at several venues and is now looking for ways to integrate his earlier career into his practice. Among other things he is the main contact person for other Buddhist groups in the area.

Robert Doin van de Roer

Robert Doin van de Roer graduated from Eindhoven University of Technology with degrees in applied physics and software engineering. He also obtained a concert diploma for piano from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, but he worked primarily as a software consultant. Doin met Tenkei during his first sesshin in 2000 and joined the full-time residential training program of Zen River in 2004. He soon became the receptionist of the center, answering telephone calls and emails and taking care of the various office jobs. An avid reader of Buddhist texts, he helped Tenkei format the anthologies of Buddhist literature that now form the core of the Zen River study program. Doin was Shuso during Ango in 2009 and later again in 2012 with Rev. Shohaku Okumura serving as Jokeshi for his Shuso Hossen ceremony. Doin received dharma transmission from Tenkei Roshi in January 2014 with Rev. Isoda Koichi as Kyojushi. Now he is preparing to attend his first three-month Ango in Toshoji, Japan. When a music-loving elderly Zen River member heard him play on the age-old piano that was part of the property inventory, he decided to donate a beautiful new piano of excellent quality! Since then Chopin and Rachmaninov have been part of the temple program.

Helma Jifu Vulink

Helma Jifu Vulink studied literature and theater in Amsterdam, her hometown. She set up her own company and worked for many years as an actress and drama­ teacher, especially focusing on communication training. Meanwhile, she raised a family and is the mother of one adult son and an adopted daughter. Jifu started Zen practice with Tenkei at Zen River in 2003 and moved in as a full­-time resident a few years later. Having received Shukke Tokudo in 2007, she served as Shuso in 2010 and later again in 2013 with Seido Suzuki Roshi in the position of Jokeshi during her Hossenshiki. Jifu's functions at Zen River are flexible and manyfold. Besides being the yoga teacher during daily excercise classes, she works in maintenance and gardening. Moreover, she is greatly appreciated as the primary stand-in tenzo of Zen River whenever Myoho is not available. She’s our go-to party dish expert, serving up yummy tapas of every kind. Last but not least, Jifu is the indispensable soprano in the recently formed Zen River choir. She received Shiho from Tenkei in January 2014 with Musai from Santa Fe as Kyojushi. Alongside the other four Shiho recipients, she has started giving classes in a houseboat in the nearby university town of Groningen. She participated in Soto Ango training in Toshoji in the Winter of 2014/2015.

Jorge Ryusho Lopez Doriga

Ryusho was born in Madrid, and since an early age suffered from 'cultural claustrophobia', being raised in a Spain of Franco and pre-post Franco times. So travelling has always been an important part of his life. After studying marketing at the American University in Paris and Georgia State University in Atlanta, he did a master program in Thunderbird in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also met his wife Veronica. He went on to work with Walt Disney Studios and led their European marketing from London, UK, where he did his first sesshin with Genpo Roshi. Later he moved to Chile to work for Sony BMG and, during a sabbatical, moved to Salt Lake City to train at Kanzeon Zen Center. There he met Tenkei; Ryusho actually attended the last of the desert retreats Tenkei and Tammy used to organize, suddenly appearing on Hatch Point in Southern Utah in his tuxedo - straight from the Grammy's celebrations in L.A.

When Tenkei and Tammy established Zen River Temple in The Netherlands in 2001, Ryusho was one of the first ones to join, flying in from wherever his home base happened to be. No wonder Tenkei gave him the name Ryusho, Flying Dragon, during his Jukai in 2003. Meanwhile he set up an enthusiastic Zen River group in Madrid that Tenkei and Tammy visit annually; he did the same in Lima and most recently in Bangkok where he now lives with his wife and two children and works as the CMO of a large beverage company. He completed his Lay Hossenshiki in 2005 and received Hoshi in 2009. Over the last few years Ryusho has often accompanied Tenkei on international Buddhist conferences in China, Thailand and Vietnam, closely following the new and fascinating developments of Asian Buddhism. Because of special karmic circumstances he was invited on a fishing trip with the king of Bhutan and since then has created promising connections with spiritual and political leaders of that country, including the secretary general of monastic affairs and the minister of the Gross National Happiness Commission.

Hans Daishin Fischer

Daishin was born in Eibergen, The Netherlands. He first received a technical education but then changed studies and became a social worker employed by the local government. Dissatisfied with his life he quit his job and went travelling for one year, visiting Israel, Egypt, India, Nepal and Myanmar. When he returned he took on various jobs eventually working in a mental hospital, organizing educational activities for the patients. In 1989 Daishin started Zen meditation and met Genpo Roshi two years later during a sesshin. Zen practice quickly became his highest priority; he did as much training as possible within his social circumstances, studying also with Genno Pages, Nico Tydeman, and finally with Tenkei. In 1994 he met his second wife with whom he still lives together in Zutphen, a historic town along the river IJssel. In 1999 he received Jukai from Genpo Roshi who gave him the dharma name Daishin.

When he, in 2001, heard that Tenkei and Tammy were planning to start a residential practice center in The Netherlands, he immediately joined their team and even helped search for a suitable property. As soon as Zen River opened he asked Tenkei to become his second teacher, which had the full approval of Genpo. Daishin has been instrumental in setting up Zen River, not only because of his social skills but also his technical expertise. The building needed renovation in all departments and he quickly developed himself as the master electrician, replacing all the visible and invisible wires in the building and bringing light everywhere. Since 2007 he lives three days a week at Zen River and attends most sesshins and month-long retreats. In 2007 he also completed a Lay-Ango as Head-trainee and in 2008 received Hoshi. Daishin leads the Zen River group Zutphen and, since dharma transmission, started to conduct workshops in various locations in The Netherlands and Germany.

White Plum Lineage

Taizan Maezumi Roshi & Genpo Merzel Roshi in April 1994

The White Plum Lineage was established by Taizan Maezumi Roshi (1931–1995), one of the great pioneers of modern Zen who, alongside a handful of other Japanese masters, turned the wheel of dharma in our age and opened up a unique tradition of Buddhist practice to a worldwide movement. Maezumi Roshi received not only Shiho (Dharma Transmission) in Soto Zen from Baian Hakujun Kuroda Roshi, which he transmitted to his Dharma successors, but he also received Inka (Seal of Approval) in the Shakyamuni Kai from Osaka Koryu Roshi and in the Sanbo Kyodan from Hakuun Yasutani Roshi. As he incorporated the approaches of all of these masters, he could draw from an exceptionally rich background and express the teaching of the Buddha in a very broad and colorful way. As abbot of the Zen Center of Los Angeles he guided thousands of students and produced twelve successors, who spread his teaching all around the world: Bernard Tetsugen Glassman, Dennis Genpo Merzel, Charlotte Joko Beck, Jan Chozen Bays, John Daido Loori, Gerry Shishin Wick, John Tesshin Sanderson, Alfred Jitsudo Ancheta, Charles Tenshin Fletcher, Susan Myoyu Andersen, Nicolee Jikyo Miller, and William Nyogen Yeo. These twelve have further transmitted the Dharma to new generations of successors currently close to 100 in total. Most of these successors are member of the White Plum Asanga. For a listing see the White Plum Asangha website.

As a major contribution to the transmission of Buddhist teachings to the West, Maezumi Roshi was instrumental in bringing to realization the formation of the Soto Zen Buddhist Association (SZBA) of American Soto Zen teachers. Maezumi Roshi also promoted exchange programmes among priests and lay practitioners between the United States and Japan. He has published commentaries on major Buddhist works. A collection of his talks appeared in book form under the title Appreciate Your Life (Shambhala), The Echoless Valley (Dharma Communications) and Teaching of the Great Mountain (Tuttle). Maezumi Roshi passed away unexpectedly on May 15, 1995, while visiting Japan. Intimate funeral services were held in Tokyo and Los Angeles. He is survived by his wife Martha Ekyo Maezumi and their three children, Kirsten Mitsuyo, Yuri Jundo and Shira Yoshimi.

Genpo Merzel Roshi (1944, Brooklyn, USA) is the second dharma successor of Taizan Maezumi Roshi. After receiving dharma transmission in 1979 he stayed at the Zen Center of Los Angeles for four more years to assist Maezumi Roshi in teaching. Since 1982 he also started visiting Europe several times a year to conduct Zen retreats and workshops, creating the international Kanzeon Sangha. For some twenty years he was particularly active in The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland and France. And even though he was first installed as abbot of Kanzeon Zen Center in Bar Harbor, Maine, in 1988 and later moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, most of his students were European during those years. Several times he invited Maezumi Roshi across the Atlantic to lead a series of sesshins in the various countries together with him. These visits were highly appreciated and are still treasured by sangha members as very precious occasions. Maezumi Roshi passed away in 1995, and up till 2000 Genpo Roshi’s teaching was clearly based on the models he had inherited. Since then he started to diverge from those models and developed an interactive method called ‘Big Mind’, which combines the way of Zen with Western psychological insights. This method proved to be very successful and led him to conduct workshops and conferences for large groups all over the USA and Europe. The “Maha Sangha Gathering”, an international retreat with the emphasis on Big Mind, held annually for many years on the island of Ameland, just off the northern coast of The Netherlands, ended up attracting over 300 participants; the last one of these retreats was held in January 2011. For personal reasons Genpo Roshi decided to give up the Salt Lake City Zen Center’s property, to resign from the White Plum Asanga, and to more explicitly follow his own course. He now focuses on teaching Big Mind as a secular practice at various locations primarily in the USA, including Maui, Hawaii.

Junyu Kuroda Roshi

Baigaku Junyu Kuroda Roshi, better known to most as ‘Hojo-san’, is a younger brother of Maezumi Roshi and Abbot of two temples — Kirigayaji in Tokyo and Fujidera in Gotemba, close to Mount Fuji. According to him he has “no life, no biography”. Yet we know that he was born in 1940 and raised in Koshinji, the family temple in Otawara. He graduated from Komazawa University in 1963 and received Shiho from his father in 1968. In addition to traditional Sodo training in Sojiji, he completed in a special course there that qualified him as a Zen Master in 1970. Since then he has traveled widely and, for example, in 1974 attended the second World Conference of Religions in Belgium and met with Paulus VI in the Vatican. In 1979 he went to Thailand to practice in the Theravada tradition. Later on he developed a special connection with Bhutan.

From 1973 on Hojo-san often went to the US to support Maezumi Roshi in the Zen Center of Los Angeles where he was, as Tanto, in charge of monk’s training. In turn, Maezumi Roshi would always stay with Hojo-san in Kirigayaji during his annual visits to Japan and together they would discuss the future of Western Zen Buddhism. Over time, Hojo-san has become an important bridge between East and West and his role became all the more relevant after his brother passed away. He has students all over the world and yet he says “I have no extra, no luggage. Just I am I.” Hojo-san is the father of two daughters, Keiko and Hitomi, and has given dharma transmission to seven successors: Nishimaki Taijun, Kono Seiho and Nakamura Shokan from Japan, Enjo Stahel from Brazil, Seisen Saunders and Egyoku Nakao from USA, and Kanzen Maslankowski from Poland.

In 2000, Tenkei Roshi and Myoho Sensei lived and practiced for six months with Hojo-san at Kirigaya-ji. Ever since, Hojo-san has been very supportive of their life vocations, and mutual visits occur almost every year. The gorgeous Buddha statue in the Hatto of Zen River and the Manjushri statue in the Zendo are two of his most precious donations. He has also introduced Roshi and Sensei to a wide circle of friends in Japan and China, and has orchestrated many of the special ceremonies at Zen River, most notably Roshi’s Shinsanshiki (abbot’s installation ceremony) in 2002, and the inauguration of the new Zendo in 2012 by the abbots of Tiantong and Qita temples in Ningbo, China.

In 2010 Hojo-san became Gondai Kyoshi or Vice-President of the Japanese Soto School, and in 2012 he received the title of Daikyoshi, which is one of the highest ranks in the school.